Evaluate the Investment Efficiency by Using Data Envelopment Analysis: The Case of China

Hualun Zhang, Wei Song, Xiaobao Peng, Xiaoyan Song

School of Public Affairs, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.

DOI: 10.4236/ajor.2012.22020                

Abstract

Although investment is regarded as a key force of China’s economic growth, little study has been done to measure China’s investment efficiency. The present paper applies the data envelopment analysis (DEA) to Chinese provincial panel data from the year 2003 to 2008 for measuring the investment efficiencies and identifying their trends of Chinese 30 provinces and autonomous regions. A cross-efficient DEA model with considering benevolent formulation is used for providing accurate efficiency scores and completely ranking. The empirical results suggest that the differences of investment efficiency in different regions are distinct but tending to diminish year by year, and the investment efficiencies in some provinces are significantly correlated to their investment rates to the national total investment.

Keywords

Aggregate Investment; Efficiency; Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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